Written by Paulina Kairys | BSKin & EX.Sc., NASM CPT
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
Are you consistently waking up and feeling stiffness in your body? Establishing a morning stretching routine can help relieve your body’s tension along with improving mobility, connecting breath to movement and setting intentions for the start of your day.
Is Stretching in the Morning Good For You?
In sleep, our bodies tend to lay in awkward and uncomfortable positions for hours on end. We’ve all experienced waking up with some sort of discomfort- tight muscles, slight tingly sensations or stiffness in the joints. Stretching first thing in the morning can help relieve any discomfort by bringing blood to the muscles and joints that need an extra minute to fully wake up and function for the day.
Note: If you’re exercising first thing in the morning, make sure to take the time to stretch dynamically and/or stick to a warm-up routine that isolates the muscles and joints that will be utilized for your workout. You wouldn’t start your car and drive it in sub zero conditions without warming it up first… so take the time to warm up your body properly and smoothly cruise through your workout!
Benefits of Stretching in the Morning:
Let’s explore additional benefits of stretching in the morning:
- Brings awareness to tight areas: The body’s morning discomfort is common due to muscles tightening up throughout sleep. As you build your morning stretching routine, you may find that certain areas of the body need more hands on attention. The tightness that you may feel can change everyday. Recognizing this within your body can help you strategize how to improve proper recovery and sleep techniques.
- Improves mobility and posture: If you have a desk job, it may be hard to shake the sedentary nature of sitting and/or standing for most of your day. Prolonged sitting with minimal physical activity offsets the anterior and posterior muscles of the body. We tend to see shortened muscles in the anterior or front side of the body, and lengthened muscles in the posterior or back side of the body. This can lead to compensated postures. Incorporating morning mobility can offset these imbalances and align the body in a more optimal posture.
- Connects with breathing: The power of intentionally synchronizing your breath to morning movement can reset the body in a restful and calm state. It only takes a few minutes of breathing through the belly with control to feel the effects of approaching a more grounded state.
- Intention setting for the day: You’ve experienced this before: waking up to a loud, annoying alarm, jumping out of bed realizing you’re late and running out the front door with no time to decompress or set intentions for your day. Your body is in stress mode, and it recognizes that by tensing up. Some days, this is inevitable and can happen to anyone. With a conscious effort to instill a morning stretching routine, the majority of your days can start with intention instead of panic.
5 Best Stretches to do in the Morning
Choose stretches that suit your body’s tension points. Favor the stretches that give you the most feedback to your muscles. After trying many variations, you may prefer a full-body flow over isolated stretches or vice-versa. Through trial and error, you’ll discover stretches that work best for you. Here’s a breakdown of a few different stretches that are especially beneficial to follow in the morning:
1. Forward Fold
Stand tall, hinge from the hips and reach for your toes. The forward fold is greatly beneficial for targeting the back of the legs along with the lower back muscles. If you cannot reach for your toes, place your hands on your shins. Actively hold this stretch or passively allow your body to hang in the bottom position.
2. Overhead Reach
Stand tall, reach your arms over your head and reach as high as you can with your upper body. Feel this stretch open up your upper body as well as the torso. For a deeper stretch, bring your gaze up towards the ceiling and try to slightly reach towards the back wall. Keep pressing your feet through the ground to balance the reach.
3. Side Reach
From the overhead reach position, grab your left wrist with your right hand and pull the arms towards the right side of your body. Feel a deep sensation through the lateral line of the left side of your body.
4. Downward Dog
Hinge into your forward fold position. Walk your hands into a plank, keep your feet slightly apart. Push your hands through the ground, send your hips up towards the ceiling and pull your torso close to the thighs.
5. Cat and Cow
Place your hands and knees on the ground in a quadruped position. Stack your shoulders above the wrists and your hips above the knees. Start in a neutral spine position. Drop your belly towards the ground and arch all the way through the spine for cow pose. Reverse by tucking your tailbone and rounding through the back for cat pose. Alternate between each and feel any tense points of the spine and the rest of the body. Actively pushing your hands and knees through the ground will ensure that your entire body is working through cat and cow. Make sure to include your neck, it is a part of the spine!
10 Minute Morning Stretching Routine Example
In this morning stretching routine, you will flow through five movements that target various parts of the body. The movements should be done slowly so you can really feel the stretch (as seen in the video).
Here’s the breakdown of each movement and the routine:
Movement 1: Spinal Roll (3 Times)
Start in a standing position with a neutral posture. Look up towards the ceiling then start to tuck the chin towards your chest as you roll one vertebrae at a time all the way down into a forward fold position. Hold at the bottom of the forward fold to target any tension in the low back or the back of the legs. Slowly roll all the way back up towards your standing posture.
On the 3rd rep, you will transition into the next movement from the forward fold position...
Movement 2: World’s Greatest Stretch (3 Times Each Side)
On the last repetition of your spinal roll, slowly walk your hands out in front of you until you are in a tall plank position. Draw your right foot to the outside of your right hand. Keep your right leg bent and stacked at 90 degrees while the back leg stays straight and active. Rotate your right arm up towards the ceiling to target the thoracic spine (mid-back). Feel this rotation through your upper body along with the stabilization and stretching of the lower body. Plant your right hand to your mat, step your right foot back to plank and switch sides.
On the last rep, you will transition from the plank position to the next movement...
Movement 3: Down Dog to Up Dog (3 Times)
After you’ve worked through your last world’s greatest position, step your feet together in a plank position. From a tall plank stance, send your hips up towards the ceiling as you press your hands through the ground while pushing your torso towards the legs. Slightly separate the feet and pedal them in place to open up the calf muscles. Start to send your body forwards and drop your hips to the ground. Keep your arms straight, making sure your wrists are stacked underneath the shoulders. Untuck your toes and push your legs through the ground for up dog. If up dog compresses the lower back too much, come down to your forearms and pull the ribcage off the ground. Bring your body back into plank position and flow through the sequence of down dog to up dog.
On the last rep, from the down dog position, walk your hands to your feet back to a standing position...
Movement 4: Boot Strappers (3 Times)
From the plank position, walk your hands to your feet. Open your feet up to a squat stance and secure your hands to the tops of your feet. If your mobility does not allow for you to hold on to the feet, move up to the shins instead. With your hips high and hands secured in position, pull your hips into a deep squat. Keep a proud chest and allow your hips to sink into a low stance. Lift your hips back up towards the ceiling without letting your hands go. Feel a deep hamstring stretch as you lift and a deep hip opener as you lower.
After your last rep, sit down on the floor and get into a 90/90 seated position for the last movement...
Movement 5: Shinbox to Overhead Reach (3 Times Each Side)
To finish off this full-body morning routine, sit tall and open up your hips to a 90/90 stance. Narrow your stance by joining the right foot to the top of your left thigh. Place your right hand outside of your right hip and press through the ground to lift your hips off the ground. Reach your left arm towards the ceiling and shift your weight onto your shins. Feel a deep stretch through your left hip and left side of the body. Alternate and repeat.
If a full-body mobility flow does not suit your needs, there are multiple modalities to incorporate morning stretches. FAQ’s about morning stretches:
I feel the most tension in my lower back when I first wake up. How can I target my low back?
Decompression stretches that lengthen the back muscles and separate the spinal joints are most beneficial for the lower back. The most common and accessible stretch, the forward fold, allows tension from the lower back to release along with the hamstring and glute muscles to lengthen. The forward fold can also be done in a seated position with both legs straight in front of the body.
It is worth addressing why you may be feeling consistent lower back tension and stiffness. Tight hamstrings are one puzzle piece to the problem, making hamstring stretches essential. The hamstrings are the muscles on the backside of the thigh: biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus. The hamstring muscles work together to extend the knee and flex at the hip. It is common to feel symmetrical tension of the lower back when the hamstrings are tight. As the hamstring tightens, the pelvis is pulled in a posterior tilt. The lumbar spine shifts into a flexed position in a posterior tilt, causing increased stress on the surrounding musculature.
Tight hamstrings are just one area that may be affecting lower back tension. Additional movement discrepancies and imbalances may be the answer to why this is a recurring sensation. With a chronic muscular condition, it is best to seek professional guidance.
I don’t have much time to dedicate my morning to a full-body stretching routine. Are there stretches I can do while still in bed?
There are certainly many stretches that are accessible to do while still laying in bed. This is a great option when you’re under time restraints or your body is feeling particularly stiff. Whichever stretches you choose, hold each for 1-2 minutes. Cycle through 1-3 rounds and intentionally breathe through each movement.
LYING ON BACK:
- Single Leg Hamstring: Lay on your back with your legs together and your spine in neutral position. Lift your right leg up towards the ceiling and straighten it out through the knee. Wrap both hands behind the thigh and pull the leg closer to you if you can manage a deeper stretch. Keep the left leg extended or bent, depending on what feels best in this stretch.
- Piriformis Stretch: Bend through both knees and place the feet flat on the bed. Lift your right leg and place the right ankle on top of the left knee, creating a figure 4 position. Wrap your hands around the back of your left thigh and pull your legs close to your body. Feel a deep stretch alongside your right glute. Here is an in-depth article on the piriformis muscle, which includes the best piriformis streches.
- Supine Spinal Twist: Start with both legs long. Bend through the right knee, bring it up towards your belly then cross it towards your left side. Allow the right side of your body to fully rotate towards your left side. Rotate your head towards the right and keep your arms out to the side for assistance.
- Knees to Chest: Bring both knees to your chest. Round through your spine, wrap your arms around your shins, tuck your chin to your chest and reach your forehead to your knees. Think about giving yourself a big squeeze in this position.
- Happy Baby: A classic lazy pose! Separate your legs and bring both knees to your chest. Reach your hands to the insides of the arches of your feet and pull your legs towards you to open up the hips. Rock from side to side, front to back to relieve low back and hip tension.
LYING ON STOMACH:
- Quad Stretch: Lying on your stomach, place your forehead to your pillow and join both legs together. Bend through your right knee and reach your right arm to grab the top of your right foot. Simultaneously pull the foot to the glute and push the top of your foot into your hand. Focus on targeting the quad muscles.
- Cobra: Join your legs together and place your forearms down as you reach your chest up. Pull your shoulders away from your ears and open up the back side of the body.
- Child’s Pose: Send your hips to your heels. Place your big toes together and separate the knees. Reach your arms out long in front of you and sink your torso towards the ground. Breathe into this full-body decompression stretch.
I’m most comfortable in a seated position. Can I stretch in a chair?
If you have limited mobility or struggle to get up and down from the ground, seated stretches are just as beneficial. As a general tip for stretching, pick positions and movements that are most accessible for your body. Do not force your body in a stretch, this should feel good. Try these out:
- Seated Spinal Roll: Just like the focus of the standing spinal roll, the seated spinal roll targets the mobility of the spine and stretching the posterior chain of the body. Sit at the edge of your chair in a tall posture. Tuck your chin to your chest and slowly roll one vertebrae at a time to a forward fold position. Your torso will reach about parallel to your thighs, reach your arms to the ground for an additional stretch. Hold at the bottom if you need additional time to breathe and feel the stretch. Slowly roll one vertebrae at a time back to a seated position and repeat.
- Seated Cat and Cow: If you’re having trouble with the seated spinal roll, a cat and cow position is just as beneficial to wake up and move the spine. Sit tall, lean forward from the hips and place your forearms on top of your thighs. Slowly move through spinal extension and flexion (cat/cow) and breathe into any tension you may feel.
- Seated Overhead Side Reach: Sit tall in your chair. Reach one arm up and overhead. Reach the arm as far to the side as your body allows you to. Feel this stretch within the shoulder, lats and parts of the lower back. The opposite arm can rest on your belly as you breathe or it can reach across your body towards the opposite direction, creating an opposing stretch.
- Seated Figure 4 (Piriformis Stretch): Position your body at the edge of your chair. Plant your left foot on the ground, lift and assist your right leg in a figure 4 position. Rest your right ankle on the top of your left knee. Drop your right knee towards the ground to feel a deep glute stretch. Slightly lean your torso forwards to feel a deeper right glute stretch along with the lower back.
Related: Best Stretches for Seniors
Final thoughts
Connect with your body first thing in the morning with stretching. A series of variations for morning stretching are available for what your body needs most, whether it is a full-body stretch or localized stationary stretches. Bring awareness to tension points, improve your mobility, connect with breathing and set your intentions for the rest of your day all with morning stretching.
Here are some great neck stretches that you can add to your morning routine!
Read Next: Morning Workout Routine
Paulina Kairys
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